Midnight Talk
by Graystripe64
Summary: movie centric Coraline and her real mother, Mel, spend a night simply talking and enjoying each other's company - something they haven't done in a long, long, time.


"Coraline?"

"Charlie?"

Mel wandered aimlessly in the dark atmosphere. There were no walls or floors – just a spacious black void that made chills run up her spine. This was more than unsettling. She was also alone. She had been calling out her husband and daughter's names for a while now. How long, she didn't know. But there had been no responses from anyone. This "place" was also noiseless, and with each passing second of utter silence, fear crept its way deeper into her heart.

"Coraline! Charlie!" she called, becoming frantic. "Where are you guys?"

Again, there was no response.

The dark-haired woman stopped, allowing herself a moment to pause and think calmly. She placed a hand to her temple, realizing that her heavy breathing was causing her to become lightheaded. When her brain had stopped pulsating, she finally heard it. It was faint, but after ambling idly for so long (or what it seemed to be) in complete silence, her ears where suddenly well equipped to pick up the most muted sound.

"Mom?"

"_Coraline!"_ Mel immediately registered. _"She's here! Coraline's here!"_ She quickly started looking all around her, but seeing nothing and no one.

"Mom?"

"_There it is again! But where is she?"_ Finding her voice, she shouted into the darkness, "Coraline! Coraline, I'm here!"

Then suddenly, before her light green eyes and a little ways away, there was, what appeared to be, a white doorframe. And, low and behold, a white door standing within it! Finally, a passage! A way to escape this realm and move forward to…anywhere! Anywhere but here, that's for sure. Mel picked up her pace and made a sprint for the portal, quickly busting through it with her hands outstretched in front of her. She skidded to a halt within seconds of entering her new surroundings.

She was in the kitchen to their home in the Pink Palace! How strange! None of this made sense, but at least Mel was relieved to be somewhere she actually recognized – a place with walls and floors, and of course, people she knew!

"C-Coraline? Are you in here?" she spoke aloud.

"Yeah, I'm here," came the monotone reply.

The mother's heart skipped a beat and she instantly made for the room she heard the phrase come from. The parlor. Passing her husband's study, and quickly checking inside it to find that he wasn't in it, she made it to the parlor. Coraline, her daughter, dressed in her jeans and peach-colored, striped jumper, was standing to the left side of the room with her back to her mother. Mel, of course, found this a bit unusual as well, but then again, this entire experience was unusual!

"Oh, Coraline, there you are!" she exhaled, relieved. "I was afraid – "

She immediately stopped. Mel noticed that, even though she was not facing her, her child was staring directly at the tiny door in the wall – the one Coraline had become obsessed with when the family first moved into the Palace. The infamous black, iron button-key was also lodged into the door's lock. Another chill raced down Mel's spine. She looked back to the blue-haired girl, who had said nothing and not moved at all since her mother had found her.

"C-…Coraline? A-Are you alright?"

The supposedly completely normal 11 year-old girl turned her head around to face her mother and said in a very calm and collected voice, "Of course I am…"

Mel actually screamed when she was confronted by the face of her daughter, but with shiny, black buttons sewn over her usually brown eyes.

Mel Jones instantly shot herself forwards from her bed, her eyes wide open and panting rather raggedly. She sat a little hunched forward, her hands gripping the blanket covering her knees. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of her temple, but ignored it. The dark-haired woman briefly trailed her fingers over both her eyelids and exhaled in relief when she felt no smooth bone or plastic covering them. She then tried continuously blinking and unblinking her eyes several times before she could get a clear look at where she was.

She was in her bedroom. Her and Charlie's bedroom. She immediately looked to her right and found her husband lying next to her, facing her, and the blanket right up to his neck. His glasses were off and his mouth was open, a tiny puddle of drool collecting on his pillow. He let out a rough snore and rolled over onto his other side, away from his observing wife.

Mel just focused on her raised knees in front of her and eventually rested her forehead in her left palm.

"_It was just a dream…"_ Mel thought to herself. _"A very…odd and creepy dream."_ Her mind suddenly focused on her daughter and remembered what she had seen. She held her head in both her hands at the thought. _"Coraline! Oh Coraline…why would I dream of something like that happening to you? Why? What is that supposed to mean?"_

An uncomfortably icy wind made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The odd thing was, none of the windows to their bedroom were open. A bead of uneasiness settled itself in the pit of Mel's stomach. And the more she reminisced on her dream, the more it grew, and therefore knew that falling back asleep was hardly an option. Besides, Charlie's incessant snoring would easily keep her up anyway.

Well, if she was going to stay up, then she would at least be following whatever instinct had captivated her attention at the moment. She couldn't remember feeling this way since Coraline was a little, little girl and required several "check-ups" during the night to make sure she had actually gone to sleep when she was supposed to. Coraline was usually good about this, but on those stormy, lightening-filled nights back in Pontiac, they were almost always a necessity.

Instead, Mel got up from bed and fixed her side of it so that Charlie wouldn't be alarmed if he happened to wake up in the middle of the night. She took hold of her faded night robe resting on a chair near her nightstand and simply put it on, not bothering to fasten the belt that came with it. She also slid on a pair of slippers at the foot of her bed and carefully made it for the door, making sure that its old and creaky hinges, also, did not disturb her snoring husband. The hallway was just as dark as her bedroom, but she just stood in its encompassing darkness for a while, uncertain as to what to do next.

But slowly, she turned her head to right and caught the slight glimmer of Coraline's doorknob as the window above reflected moonlight onto it. She simply stared at it for a while, contemplating the possibilities in her head.

"_It couldn't hurt to just_ check _on her, right?"_

Something inside her wanted desperately to quickly inquire on her young child. Maternal instinct, perhaps? She wasn't positive, but regardless, she felt the urgent need to make sure she was alright. That frightful nightmare of hers had apparently put her for a bigger whirl than she was willing to admit at first. Her footsteps were as silent as she could possibly make them. Of course, the ancient wooden floorboards didn't help in this endeavor to be quiet. Her hands got a good grip on it and carefully twisted it open.

Mel poked her head inside her daughter's room and watched as the illuminated paper moons, stars, and planets danced along the walls. Coraline's nightlight, no doubt. Pressing in a little further, the mother could make out the blanketed lump resting in the four-poster bed. A subtle rise and fall of the form confirmed that it was the young girl; asleep and safe.

She was safe. Safe in her own bed, and hopefully dreaming better fantasies than her mother.

But Mel was still stern. She wanted more than just a glance to make sure Coraline was well. She tried justifying that one couldn't possibly tell from such a distance away. So, of her own accord, Mel stepped fully into the silent room and pushed the door behind her. It did not close, and she didn't want it to, for the fear of it making a noise and disturbing the girl. Shuffling her feet so that she circled around the bed, she was confronted the peaceful, dreaming face of her 11 year-old daughter. Soon to be 12.

Coraline was nestled comfortably in her bed – her blanket pulled up to her shoulders, revealing just a touch of her orange, polka-dotted pajamas. By her cheek was her stuffed bear, to which she had one hand clutched upon. The rotating nightlight continued to make shapes of dim light prance along the room's walls, and even gently on Coraline's face. Mel just stood in the pale darkness, quietly observing her girl. Her little girl. The dark-haired woman felt a small tug on her heart, causing her visage to soften. Her Coraline was just fine. Sleeping like a baby.

But Mel was still not yet satisfied by this. Something urged her forward. Something in her wanted more. And she surprisingly succumbed to it. Without a second thought in her head, Mel cautiously sat herself on the edge of Coraline's bed, causing the mattress to make nothing more than a _squeak_. But still, this did not faze Coraline. The mother tightened her robe to her body as she smiled warmly at her sleeping child. So peaceful, so calm, everything was as it should be. She was perfect, Mel concluded to herself.

Suddenly, Coraline squirmed and let out a sleepy yawn, before settling herself more snuggly into her covers. Mel's grin increased in size. She let out a content exhale, satisfied with life. But it was short lived, because not a second later, Coraline emitted a small groan. Her eyebrows furrowed and lowered to her nose, crinkling it. Another low moan followed, this one more audible than the last. Mel was both startled and confused, but an idea of what was happening entered her mind. Was she having a bad dream? A nightmare, like she, herself, had had?

Coraline tightly gripped her bear and made more grumbles. But Mel was quick to silence them. She extended a hand and hovered it above her daughter's head, before gently placing it on her temple. She hoped that the warmth of her palm had sunk through to Coraline's mind. She continued by tenderly brushing aside a few strands of blue hair and eventually stroking the side of her head altogether.

The groans eventually subsided, but her nose and brows were still held tightly in a crumple. Mel was not sure where this next act came from, but the results of it banished all second thoughts.

"Shhh…shhh…" Mel soothed. "It's okay, Coraline. I'm here. Mom's here…"

Slowly, but surely, with a few more reassuring strokes of her hair, Coraline's contorted countenance was reserved to normal. Mel smiled at this and a sense of motherly pride snuck into her heart. She had been able to soothe her troubled daughter, without her even realizing it.

"That's my girl," she breathed.

She eventually ceased her hand and brought it back to her lap. And when she noticed a small smirk appear on Coraline's face, she knew that following her instincts had been a productive decision after all. Wanting to conclude this emotional even on even a better note, Mel decided to attempt something that she couldn't remember the last time she'd done it. She leaned in close to the side of her daughter's head, with lips puckered. But to her dismay, and before she could actually finish the deed of planting a kiss, she saw that Coraline's eyes started fluttering open!

Mel frantically retracted and sat frozen as her daughter continued to stir.

"M-Mom?" she murmured, rolling on her back and eventually lifting her head up from her pillow.

"No, no," urged her mother in a commanding whisper. "Go back to sleep."

Coraline would not be forced down, however. Once Mel realized her daughter's stubbornness was too strong, she abandoned the effort to coax her back to bed. Coraline lifted herself up with her hands, shifting one up to her face to rub her left eye. Tired though she was, she managed to bring herself into full consciousness rather quickly. "Mom? What…What're you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

Mel sighed, frustrated with herself and her daughter. "Well, I didn't want to wake you up, that's for sure," she paused. "But…I-I just came to check on you, if you _must_ know."

The blue-haired girl was now sitting upright in front of her mother. She frowned as she folded her arms and challenged, "To see if I was actually in bed, right?"

"No. Actually, to see that you were okay…" there was another moment of silence, within which Mel would not meet Coraline's eyes. "To make sure…you were safe. That's all."

She was confused and raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, of course I'm fine." Coraline patted her face, head, and abdomen, and comically remarked, "See? Nothing's wrong."

Mel let out a humorous snort but looked away again, her eyes downcast. "I can see that _now_."

"What do you mean?"

There was another _'squeak'_ from the mattress as Mel got up from it hastily, "No. I'm not gonna keep you up! I'll just – "

"No, Mom!" Coraline begged, reaching out a hand. "Tell me, please? I wanna know!"

Overcome by the power of her daughter's 'puppy eyes', Mel sighed heavily and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Alright…" she hesitated for a while, uncertain as how to retell her startling incident. "Honestly? I had a…a bit of a bad dream about you."

"Whoa, really?" Coraline was now desperately intrigued, shifting her arms so that they wrapped around her bent knees. "What happened?"

Mel cast a side-glance at her child, seeing how eager she had become. A small smirk adorned her face, endeared by her innocent curiousness and remembering how she had always been that way…and hopefully, always would. "I was…I was wandering alone in this dark void, calling out your and Dad's names. No one answered for the longest time, until I heard _you_ calling me back. A door appeared and I ran through it. It lead me to the kitchen," Mel recollected. "I found you…i-in the parlor…by the little door."

Coraline's eyes widened slightly as she arched her eyebrows upwards in surprise. She said nothing, however, and let her mother continue.

"You were just staring at it…not saying a word…" Mel shivered, "But when you turned around…you had these…_buttons_ sewn into your eyes!"

The blue-haired girl gulped and exerted every fiber in her being to restrain herself from reaching up to her face and touching her eyes. "Ouch…" she breathed.

"That was when I woke up. Seems like your old dreams are having an effect on mine," Mel finished with a slight chortle at the end.

Coraline smirked, somewhat nervously, "Heh, yeah…"

"And…well, there was no going back to sleep after that."

"You mean you were _scared?_"

The mother froze and stayed that way a moment before facing Coraline, her expression blank, but eyes searching. She had to really concentrate on an answer. She was even more pressured by the fact that Coraline looked absolutely in awe. She inconspicuously bit her lip before finally nodding.

"Yes. I guess you could say I was."

Coraline was even more shocked by this information. So much so, that she allowed her mouth to drop open a bit. Although, for her mother's sake, she closed it just as fast as it fell. A short passing of silence plagued both the mother and daughter – Mel, somewhat expectant for Coraline's response, and Coraline thinking of how to swallow such an unexpected fact.

"Huh…" was all she could manage while staring downwards into space.

"You seem surprised," speculated Mel, slowly.

The girl seemed somewhat shaken from her thoughts as she instantly refocused eye contact with her mother. "Oh! Well…yeah. I am. I mean…" she gripped her knees closer. "I always thought you weren't scared of anything."

Mel raised both her eyebrows. "You did?"

"Uh huh!" Coraline nodded. "Dad calls you 'the Boss', and bosses are leaders, which means aren't leaders supposed to be _fearless?_"

"Well – " Mel stopped, her mouth open for a reply, but then shut it when nothing came to mind. What Coraline theorized was interesting. She scrunched her brows together in thought before advising, "Well, it certainly seems that way doesn't it? That the ones that seem to have all the answers can't possibly be afraid of anything. Are always brave…" she paused. "But that couldn't be any farther from the truth. Everyone is afraid of something. Maybe even many things. It wouldn't be natural if you weren't."

"Yeah…" Coraline ruminated on this and then stated, "Ya know, Mom, I remember you telling me when I was little that bravery _comes_ from fear! Being scared, but going on and doing it anyway – that's what bravery _really _is!"

Mel allowed a smile to adorn her face once more, thoroughly impressed with her daughter. "Did I really say that to you? I guess I did, didn't I?"

"Yup! And it's true, too!" the girl beamed back. "I haven't forgotten it, either."

"It shows," her mother commented.

Coraline blinked her gratitude, but then suddenly became more serious and had a look of uncertainty. Mel noticed it but Coraline spoke too quickly before she could actually inquire. "You know what?"

Mel shrugged.

She leaned in for a whisper, "I had a bad dream too."

Her mother did not want to let on that she was aware of that, seeing as the moment she settled before her daughter, she caught her in said bad dream. So instead, she put on a face and said, "Really?"

The blue-haired girl nodded and then went right into it. "It was weird. There were all these sewing needles around me – big, huge ones like harpoons!" she described, stretching her arms out for emphasis. "And then some were little ones that were extra sharp! They were coming through the walls, and from the ceiling, and even through the floors!"

Mel's eye twitched a bit, hardly noticeable.

Coraline recoiled slightly, her excitement detained. "And…and I was _scared_. But. But then I felt something on my head," she explained, doing so. "Like a hand or…something. It was warm and stuff, and then the rest of me was too. The needles totally evaporated – poof!" A somber pause, then, "And I felt…safe. Because a voice told me everything was okay. And I believed them..."

Mel grinned. Her heart was swelling with passion and empathy…same with her eyes. Although she would never admit to becoming this emotional, it wasn't any less true. However, any tiny tears quickly evaporated when Coraline continued, as she looked back up at her mother when she did.

"I think that was _you_, Mom. The one who made me feel safe and everything."

The mother reached out a hand and patted her daughter's knee. "You're darn right, it was. You know I would never overlook something as important as that."

"It was just a dream, Mom," Coraline chuckled.

"Maybe so. But I mean it just the same."

Brown eyes shining, Coraline smiled warmly at her mother – completely touched by her choice of words and calming reassurance. She couldn't remember the last time something like that had ever been said to her; by her mother at least. Even though she didn't show them all the time, it didn't mean that her mother _completely_ lacked all sentiments. In fact, since her escapade with the Beldam and the Other World, she and her mom had gotten to a better place in their relationship. Both were trying to fix whatever rift they'd made for themselves, and things were getting a lot more breathable between them.

Mel's gaze shifted downwards and she reluctantly removed her hand from her daughter's knee with a sigh. "Well…" she started. "I don't want to keep you up any longer; you'll be tired in the morning."

Coraline raised a brow to go along with her slight frown. "It's Saturday, Mom. Well, probably Sunday now. I don't have school or anything."

"Ah, well…but – " Mel tried rationalizing, but failed. Even though, deep down, a part of her was feeling different, the last thing she wanted was to be the cause of a cranky Coraline.

"And besides…" added the blue-haired girl. She surprisingly reached out and touched her mother's arm. Mel froze at the sudden contact and eyed her child curiously, truly wanting to know her reasoning. Coraline could tell the impact of her action and continued with as much meaning she could muster into one sentence, "I…I like this. This…_whatever_ it is we're doing here. Tonight."

Mel smirked. "You mean just…talking? You and I?"

Her daughter brightened and confirmed with a bit of an embarrassed chuckle, "Yeah…"

The mother gave one of her own as well, "Me too."

And so mother and daughter spent the remainder of the night talking. Just talking. Getting to know each other a tiny bit better, even though their conversations weren't anything particularly extravagant. Coraline rambled a bit about her and Wybie's recent adventures around the Ashland woods, to which Mel listened and enjoyed her daughter's enthusiasm. And Mel, although she had to be coaxed into doing so, prattled about what interesting things and people she had stumbled upon or run into on her daily routine: working, shopping, driving, etc. Laughs were shared. As were giggles and smiles. They both chatted about their overall likes and dislikes – many of which they were surprised to find – were very similar.

As the pink/orange sunrise began to peek from the distant mountains, the two females had come to a comfortable pause. For the time being, they had run out of topics to talk about, and simply passed the brief moment by just smiling and looking at each other. It was a glance of mutual respect and admiration.

But the blue-haired girl accidentally let out a tired yawn, and her eyelids sagged over her brown pupils. At this, Mel turned her head around to glance with surprise at the rising sun. She returned with a knowing smirk on her lips.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were completely tuckered out!"

Coraline gave a small scowl and was about to retaliate with a sharp remark, but something inside her made her stop. Instead, she immediately wiped the grimace from her face and nodded sheepishly, "Heh, yeah…"

"Why don't you try getting some sleep before the morning _really_ arrives?" her mother proposed.

"Oh…yeah, okay," accepted the girl, preparing to lay back down in her bed by resting back on her elbows. Along with noticing Coraline's lowered brows, Mel detected a hint of reluctance in her tone, and a moments pondering over the reason for it finally gave her the answer. She grinned and leaned in closer to Coraline.

"Hey," she whispered, "I'm actually really glad I came to check on you when I did. I had a lot of fun talking with you tonight, you know."

Coraline's once perturbed expression vanished upon hearing these words, immediately grateful for them. She smiled back sleepily, "Me too. I…I wish I wasn't so tired. That way…maybe we still could. Keep talking, that is."

Mel nodded, pressing a light palm on her daughter's shoulder and forcing her down into her bed. "I know. But all good things have to come to an end. Just like anything else."

"It _shouldn't_, though…" Coraline huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and allowing her mother to neatly fold her sheets and blanket back in order, and eventually tuck her in. Something she could hardly remember her mother doing.

Mel chuckled, amused by her daughter's never-failing stubbornness. "Ah, but _this…_" the dark-haired woman began. She then, to her child's surprise, leaned in closer to her and gently planted a loving kiss on her forehead. She pulled back slightly to see Coraline looking happily bewildered. "_This_…This _never_ ends."

The blue-haired girl's smile widened and widened until finally, she shot herself forwards in her bed and grabbed her mother into a hug – one that simply had their cheeks pressed together. Mel was surprised at first, but succumbed to it rather quickly with another light chuckle. She pulled Coraline tight as well, relishing in the sensation of feeling her daughter securely tugging on her robe and the warmth of her cheek held firmly against her own.

"Thank you…" both mother and daughter whispered at the exact same time, which caused the two of them to release their embrace and look each other surprised in the eye.

Coraline giggled, "Stop finishing my sentences!"

"_You_ stop it first!" Mel chortled back, purposefully mussing her daughter's blue hair. Eventually, when all giggling had subsided, she urged the child back into bed. "Alright. Try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay," the girl conceded with light-hearted eye-roll.

The mother quickly tucked her in and then switched off the rotating nightlight, seeing as the sun was about to rise anyway. She then got herself to her feet and made for the door (already opened a crack) at the other end of the room.

"You gonna go back to sleep too?" Coraline yawned.

Mel ran a hand through her dark hair, looking back at the child as she pulled open the portal with the other. "Hmmm, I think so. Might as well." She paused, about to close the door behind her. She just eyed the snuggled girl for a few seconds before adding, "Sweet dreams, okay?"

"Uh huh," she responded.

Mel nodded once and was about to finally shut the door, when she heard, "Wait! Uhh…" Immediately, she pulled back to see Coraline sitting up a little in bed, looking a tad flustered, as if what she had stopped her to say was suddenly out of her grasp. But the heartfelt grin she finally gave her mother reassured her of her words.

"Love ya, Mom…"

Mel's eyebrows shut up as her eyes widened, totally struck by her daughter's comment. But after letting it seep in, her visage quickly softened, and remarked slowly and honestly, "I love you, too, Coraline."

Happily content and just as touched, the blue-haired girl laid her head back onto her pillow and continued smiling as she gently shut her eyes. Mel watched her child do so with the same expression on her face as well, while then silently closing the door behind her. She then made her way down the hall towards her own bedroom, knowing that there was no nightmare in the world that could sour the fullness she now felt in her heart.


End file.
